The evolution of the policy analysis profession in the United States

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beryl A. Radin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Policy Analysis ◽  
General Public ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Analyst ◽  
The Past ◽  
The 1960S

Despite the growth of the field in the United States over the past several decades, this is not a profession that the general public understands. Indeed, as time has gone by since the profession developed, there sometimes appears to be less agreement about the activity than there was in its earliest days. For the answer to the question ‘What is a policy analyst?’ is different today than it was in the 1960s, when the profession first defined itself. One can depict the realities of the policy analysis profession as occurring during three periods: 1960 to 1989, 1990 to 2003; and 2003 to the present. Using three points of time to frame this contrast does provide a way to emphasize the shifts that have occurred in the profession.

Still critical after all these years? The past, present and future of Critical Theory in International Relations

2007 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. 3-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
NICHOLAS RENGGER ◽  
BEN THIRKELL-WHITE
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Relations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Rand Corporation ◽  
Contemporary Philosophy ◽  
The Past ◽  
Game Theoretic ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Theoretical Reflection

Twenty-five years ago, theoretical reflection on International Relations (IR) was dominated by three broad discourses. In the United States the behavioural revolution of the 1950s and 1960s had helped to create a field that was heavily influenced by various assumptions allegedly derived from the natural sciences. Of course, variety existed within the behaviourist camp. Some preferred the heavily quantitative approach that had become especially influential in the 1960s, while others were exploring the burgeoning literature of rational and public choice, derived from the game theoretic approaches pioneered at the RAND corporation. Perhaps the most influential theoretical voice of the late 1970s, Kenneth Waltz, chose neither; instead he developed his Theory of International Politics around an austere conception of parsimony and systems derived from his reading in contemporary philosophy of science.

The Virtual Disappearance of the White Male Sprinter in the United States: A Speculative Essay

1994 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
John George
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Racial Differences ◽  
White Male ◽  
The United States ◽  
Physical Characteristics ◽  
The Past ◽  
World Class ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Almost All

Over the past 30 years almost all world-class United States sprinters have been black. There were also many fast black sprinters in the United States before the 1960s, but in addition there were a considerable number of world-class white sprinters. In fact, during the 1940s and 1950s the fastest men were white. This was not the case during the 1930s, when the best male sprinters were black. This essay discusses the phenomenon and attempts to give reasons for it. Sociological explanations seem considerably more plausible than physical characteristics based on perceived racial differences.

The roles of revolutionary song – a Nicaraguan assessment

Popular Music ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Pring-Mill
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Latin America ◽  
The United States ◽  
Spanish American ◽  
Political Commitment ◽  
The Past ◽  
Oral Cultures ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Protest Song

The term ‘protest song’, which became so familiar in the context of the anti-war movement in the United States during the 1960s, has been widely applied to the songs of socio-political commitment which have developed out of traditional folksong in most of the countries of Latin America over the past twenty years (see Pring-Mill 1983 and forthcoming). Yet it is misleading insofar as it might seem to imply that all such songs are ‘anti’ something: denouncing some negative abuse rather than promoting something positive to put in its place. A more helpful designation is that of ‘songs of hope and struggle’, enshrined in the titles of two Spanish American anthologies (C. W. 1967 and Gac Artigas 1973), which nicely stresses both their ‘combative’ and their ‘constructive’ aspects, while one of the best of their singers – the Uruguayan Daniel Viglietti – describes his own songs as being ‘in some measure both de protesta and de propuesta’ (i.e. as much ‘proposing’ as they are ‘protesting’). The document with which this article is chiefly concerned uses the term ‘revolutionary song’, which clearly covers both those aspects, but such songs may be seen to perform a far more complex range of tasks than any of those labels might suggest, as soon as their functions are examined ‘on the ground’ within the immediate context of the predominantly oral cultures of Latin America to which they are addressed: cultures in which traditional folksong has retained its power and currency largely undiminished by the changes of the twentieth century, and in which the oral nature of song (with the message of its lyrics reinforced by music) helps it to gain a wider popular diffusion than the more ‘literary’ but unsung texts which make up the greater part of the genre of so-called ‘committed poetry’ (‘poesía de compromiso’) to which the lyrics of such songs clearly belong (see Pring-Mill 1978, 1979).

Think tanks and policy analysis

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Rich
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Policy Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Think Tanks ◽  
Think Tank ◽  
The 1960S

Since the 1960s, think tanks have proliferated in the United States, especially ideological think tanks, with conservative think tanks coming to substantially outnumber liberal organization. In this environment, the quality of analysis from think tanks is often in question and consumers of their work seem to be more often attracted to analysis that supports preexisting point of view rather than the most rigorously produced research. For sure, think tanks matter; they are among the most important sources of analysis in American policymaking. But in order to be influential, think tank analysts must target their audiences clearly and be relentless in marketing their work.

Early Music and Popular Music

2020 ◽  
pp. 508-529
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Randell Upton
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
The United States ◽  
Early Music ◽  
The Past ◽  
Beach Boys ◽  
Rolling Stones ◽  
The 1960S

In the 1960s, recordings and performances of preclassical music brought new sounds to musical performers, creators, and audiences. Through play with new sounds and with ideas about the past, medievalist popular music helped to shape the range of meanings associated with “the medieval” for scholars as well as audiences. At first, early music sounds, especially that of the harpsichord, were used for their novelty, becoming fashionable and hip by the mid-1960s, first in London (as seen in recordings by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Zombies, and Procol Harum; this trend fed into 1970s prog rock) and then, following the British Invasion, in the United States (particularly the Left Banke in New York and the Beach Boys and the Doors in Los Angeles). Some folk-rock performers used early music sounds to signal the past, drawing on tropes of nostalgia and medievalist fantasy (e.g., Simon and Garfunkel’s “Scarborough Fair/Canticle” [1966] and the Beatles’ “Penny Lane” [1967]).

Age, Period and Cohort Differences Between the Homicide Trends of Canada and the United States

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mateus Rennó Santos ◽  
Yunmei Lu ◽  
Rachel E Fairchild
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cohort Effects ◽  
The Past ◽  
Cohort Differences ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
The 1960S

Abstract A robust literature has investigated homicide trends in the United States since 1950. The prevalence of homicide in the country almost doubled in the 1960s, remained high until the 1990s and then declined precipitously. Surprisingly, Canada displayed the same trend. We decompose the age, period and cohort effects on the homicide trends of the United States and Canada since 1950, exploring shared effects in light of these countries’ historical and policy differences over the past seven decades. Our study reveals remarkably similar trends and effects in Canada as those previously documented for the United States, despite diverging approaches to criminal justice and to the use of incarceration since the 1950s. We explore these findings and expand on their implications.

The Future Past of the Amateur Sports Act: Developing American Sport

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 4-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence Chalip
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sport Participation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Grassroots Development ◽  
The Past ◽  
Sporting Culture ◽  
American Foundation ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Fitness Sport ◽  
Sport Facilities

The United States is struggling to hold its own in international competitions. The Amateur Sports Act mandates that the USOC and its NGBs should build American sport performances by fostering sport participation throughout the country, and by enabling sport research. However, data from the past 16 years of sport participation demonstrate that participation is declining in many of our key sports, while others show inconsistent or merely ephemeral growth. Further, sport research is no longer pursued by the USOC, and it is not funded by any U.S. government agency or private American foundation. Consequently, the American sporting culture is eroding, and the United States is becoming a client nation when it comes to sport research. A review of the formation of The Amateur Sports Act shows that it was formulated to address Cold War concerns. Consequently, the Act failed to consider sport development, as the Act’s primary purpose was to engender a rationalized private sport system through which to build teams that could beat communist athletes. A reassessment of The Amateur Sports Act in light of contemporary conditions, suggests that greater attention to participation and research are necessary, but that such attention will require establishment of a foundation to nurture sport participation and to fund sport research. The foundation’s mandate would include creation of clubs and leagues to enable year round and lifelong sport participation, enhancement of the availability of sport facilities for club and league use, guidance for grassroots development of sport, and establishment of clear pathways for athletes. The template for such a foundation was created in the 1960s but never implemented. The time is ripe for it to be implemented now either by incorporating its mandates into the new Foundation for Fitness, Sport, and Nutrition, or by establishing a foundation that specifically targets sport development.

Reflecting on the Dream of Automated Vehicles. Visions of Hands Free Driving over the past 80 years / Überlegungen zum Traum vom automatisierten Fahrzeug. Visionen selbsttätigen Fahrens aus den letzten 80 Jahren

2020 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-94
Author(s):  
Jameson M. Wetmore
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
General Public ◽  
The United States ◽  
Automated Vehicles ◽  
Automated Vehicle ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
Time Periods ◽  
Self Driving Cars

A number of corporations around the world are promising that self-driving cars are just around the corner. They aren’t simply building, testing, and refining vehicles, however. They are also seeking to shape our expectations, goals, and values surrounding the technology. They are telling us what automated vehicles will look like, how they will be integrated into society, what problems they will solve, and how our lives will change. If we as citizens, consumers, or the general public would like to entertain other possibilities, we need to consider and reflect on alternative ideas. This article looks back at 80 years of visions of automated vehicles in the United States for examples of alternative ways to think about the technology. It highlights automated vehicles from four different time periods - the late 1930s/early 1940s, the 1950s, the 1990s, and the early 2000s - examines the futures that were promoted in those efforts. It analyses each of these future visions by exploring three questions: What does the technology look like? Why should it be built? And what organizations should help to create it? By exploring different visions of an automated vehicle future we can better see the paths that are currently not being presented to us and decide for ourselves whether visions from the past might be a better roadmap to the future we want to build.

International Research and Variation in Views of Ethnicity

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-72
Author(s):  
Ella Inglebret ◽  
Amy Skinder-Meredith ◽  
Shana Bailey ◽  
Carla Jones ◽  
Ashley France
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Classification System ◽  
International Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
Research Articles ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Research Participants ◽  
The Past ◽  
International Scale ◽  
Publication Patterns

The authors in this article first identify the extent to which research articles published in three American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) journals included participants, age birth to 18 years, from international backgrounds (i.e., residence outside of the United States), and go on to describe associated publication patterns over the past 12 years. These patterns then provide a context for examining variation in the conceptualization of ethnicity on an international scale. Further, the authors examine terminology and categories used by 11 countries where research participants resided. Each country uses a unique classification system. Thus, it can be expected that descriptions of the ethnic characteristics of international participants involved in research published in ASHA journal articles will widely vary.

Proportion of Individuals With Past-Year Suicidal Ideation Who Attempted Suicide Over the Past 10 Years in the United States, and the Influence of Age and Sex

Crisis ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Shannon Lange ◽  
Courtney Bagge ◽  
Charlotte Probst ◽  
Jürgen Rehm
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Suicidal Ideation ◽  
Random Effects ◽  
Attempted Suicide ◽  
Suicide Attempts ◽  
The United States ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Past ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
Age Category

Abstract. Background: In recent years, the rate of death by suicide has been increasing disproportionately among females and young adults in the United States. Presumably this trend has been mirrored by the proportion of individuals with suicidal ideation who attempted suicide. Aim: We aimed to investigate whether the proportion of individuals in the United States with suicidal ideation who attempted suicide differed by age and/or sex, and whether this proportion has increased over time. Method: Individual-level data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 2008–2017, were used to estimate the year-, age category-, and sex-specific proportion of individuals with past-year suicidal ideation who attempted suicide. We then determined whether this proportion differed by age category, sex, and across years using random-effects meta-regression. Overall, age category- and sex-specific proportions across survey years were estimated using random-effects meta-analyses. Results: Although the proportion was found to be significantly higher among females and those aged 18–25 years, it had not significantly increased over the past 10 years. Limitations: Data were self-reported and restricted to past-year suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. Conclusion: The increase in the death by suicide rate in the United States over the past 10 years was not mirrored by the proportion of individuals with past-year suicidal ideation who attempted suicide during this period.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document